The Berry-Copter!!! (Early 2015 edition)

[FeatherFeather11]

Here we go! Here's to a big Berrie clusterdiff from the other thread and many a safe and healthy baby Berrie arrival in 2015!

wild sorry for getting mixed up. I know how excruciating the wait is, it's worse than the 2ww. The only thing that sort of helped me was keeping busy but then I had some spotting at 5 weeks and that truly turned me into a wreck ( turns out it's very common). It gets better though after each scan and milestone. I think the MW home visits are common practice in some areas and it just depends on where you live. It might be quite nice as you'll probably get a bit more time?

bushy for perineal massage just using some olive oil (any edible oil or sweet almond oil are recommended) and propping one foot up on the bath. My doula said that you have to feel a stretch, but I am starting quite gently and hoping to build up over the next few weeks. Stats show a 10% reduction in tears- not massive but I feel comforted by the thought of doing all I can. Where are you hoping to give birth? Will you be at hospital or at home?

Thanks pearl for the tip. I may give it a go, bought extra olive oil today!!
Dh is stomping round in a bad mood because he's had to clear the dining room so carpet man can come & clean it tomorrow. Honestly, he is such a baby sometimes. I asked him was he ok & got a rather grumpy reply. He gets all Arsey when hot & bothered. He has no filter; I was pissed off earlier as he was sat on his arse watching an ancient Star Trek film on Netflix instead of making a start on it. He asked me was I ok & I just said a bit grumpy but ok.... See I try to be more polite & avoid arguments!! Anyhow we'll have grumps moving it all back in tomorrow!! Joy!! Staying out of his way. Anyone else finding they just have too much crap in their house?

Hopefully I will have a sling tomorrow. Arranged to buy a 2nd hand one from a local fb group & lady dropping off tomorrow. Quite pleased as have fancied one & normal one is about £45 in Mothercare.

Lol at the dusty Venetians wild. Think midwife practice varies from place to place. We have to go to hospital or doctors to see ours but post baby they come to you & we have been told they're not looking at the state of your home and in fact, a well made up mummy & perfect house but screaming child sets off alarm bells! Dh actually likes change bag & the fact it was a bargain!!

I am planning on making some meals to freeze tomorrow. This may be slightly scuppered by the dining room table being in the kitchen!! Haven't written birth plan yet so maybe should do that & poss dress Moses basket & crib. Then I could just tidy or not as the case may be!!

I think we have most of the things we need. House is a bit cluttered in places ( no change there- things like tons of costs hanging up, overflowing shoes, some dressers & drawers full of crap etc) but not bad. I kinda think it's my last time to sort it. I've been thinking more about the birth etc & although we've done the classes etc it just seems unreal to me & a bit overwhelming. I have no idea really how I will cope tbh. Also the whole parenthood, life will never be the same. We've quite enjoyed this time together, just us two, as apart from tonight's grumps, it's been really nice. Obv excited to meet little bushy but also a bit apprehensive!! Can't believe 2 weeks of maternity have already gone!! Anyhow I am rambling so will sign off.

Just catching up here!

Bushy yes be gentle on the perineal massage. I tore a wee hole in mine the first time I tried - ouchies!

Nursing clothing, try Purpless - purpless.co.uk/en/
They do cheap maternity and nursing clothing, about £8 for a top. I bought six tops from them and just wear them as my mat leave uniform. Super convenient and as they are cheap I don't care about spilling Milton fluid etc down them.

Pixie I just borrowed mine from my antenatal yoga teacher but I believe local NCT groups sometimes lend them out. Nope no heater!

Jellie eeeeep for 23 weeks!

Oh and Bushy you just will cope. You just kinda put one foot in front of the other. Honestly, they cry, you try feeding, nappy, too hot or cold, wind them, no, okay maybe tired so try soothing to sleep.... And somewhere down that list you'll get it! Youll figure it out :)

Also......I think for women who've strugggled to conceive it can sometimes feel like you must Treasure Every Moment. Like somehow you have to be grateful all the time. The truth is that motherhood has some freakin tedious bits (endless night feeds) and shitty bits (hormone swings) and it's perfectly fine to have days where you think, I love my baby but I'm not enjoying this right now. I have definitely had moments of feeling suffocated or overwhelmed or even times when I've thought, shit, did I do the right thing?? I reckon most new mums have those moments and if you do, it doesn't make you a traitor to the Berries.....

Hope that comes over in the positive way I meant it :)

Great post rp, think you are bang on with the comment about berries thinking every minute must be treasured & feeling like a traitor if you're not. Ouch re the hole too!!

I met up with my yoga group today & all bar 2 of us have had their babies. They all look so natural & confident with it but even they said they've had a little cry & had a wobble.

Will check out that website & recommend it to my yoga mummies as they were saying how difficult it is getting nursing clothes.

Don't know about anyone else but my pg indigestion, aka wind, has stepped up to a whole new level. It's like guttural, 'I've just downed a pint of beer' kinda wind!! Hoping once baby out this'll get better!!

wild is everything ok? Hope so x

Fab post to Bushy, RP. Fear of being a 'traitor to the Berries' is well put. And ouch at the perineal massage rip.

I'm ok, but you are so right Pearl that this wait is torture. I was fine last week but then a bit of bleeding on Sarurday burst my bubble. It was only a bit of watery pink once when I wiped and then some brown bits in my Crinone gel. What's bothering me more is that all my pregnancy symptoms seem to have disappeared. So basically I'm just torturing myself until the scan. (sigh). Keeping busy is good advice Pearl and not long to go now.

Yes, Bushy, our house is crammed with stuff. If you want I can parcel it all up and send it to you? Although DH would explode.

wild that early on there aren't that many pg symptoms & everyone is different so don't take that for anything. Early on for me there weren't too many symptoms. After our v early scan I was just hungry all the time & later on started to feel but sick if I didn't eat. lol re your house stuff, we sound the same!!

Had a lovely brunch with friends this morning. Got the MIL popping over tomorrow. I have a feeling she might have knitted something!! She was on the phone last night to dh saying to let her know when we go into hospital. Dh told her if he had time he would and she was like no, you need to let me know!!

Took gaviscon tablets for the first time last night- how good are they!! Due date on Monday, not really made plans for next week but I think I will as will help distract if I'm late.

wild it's so tough at the beginning but to reassure you that both the spotting and having no pregnancy symptoms is very normal. I think I mentioned it on here before but I used to wake up every day poke my boobs and say they weren't tender and therefore I couldn't possibly be pregnant. I had spotting at week 5 (which I remember vividly because it was Christmas Eve) and then again at week 9. I know when gill had the same the majority of the berries seemed to chime in to say that they'd had it too. I suspect most women do have a little bit of spotting and don't notice it (e.g. If you're not checking when you wipe... Remember those days of beng normal )but berries are just extra vigilant so notice it all. Good luck for the scan tomorrow, I have everything crossed for you that you see that little heartbeat and your tiny bean is hanging in there.

bushy due date Monday!!! OMG so exciting. I know you've not written the birth plan yet but do you know if you'll be at home or in hospital/ birth centre? Any other special requirements? Mojitos, jazz in the background and a painless 1 hour labour seems like a good way to go

rp lovely post to Bushy. I think your advice extends to pregnancy too and berries do feel extra grateful to be finally preggers but doesn't mean that you can't feel a bit annoyed/ sorry for yourself when you're feeling constantly sick, the heat means your ankles are the sizes of treatrunks and there is no longer any conceivable position that you can be in which actually means you get more than a few hours of sleep at a time.

pixie how are you doing? Started mat leave yet? Have you decided to go for a home birth in the end and managed to source your pool?

I am having a little taste of mat leave today as I have a day off, although, I am back in tomorrow and officially finish on Tuesday. Had a massive plate of homemade pancakes (yum!) and now trying to decide what yo do next. By the way I've been doing hypnobirthing and really enjoying it. I started off being much more apprehensive about the birth and it's certainly helped with my fears - we'll see what difference it will make on the day but so far highly recommend it.

Just dropping in to say FX for wild for tomorrow!

Pearl yeah I found hypnobirthing helped my prenatal anxieties more than anything but that did put me in a better frame of mind for the birth itself iyswim? Like, when it kicked off I was all, oh I'm so going to handle this, as opposed to feeling like aaahhhh shit! Actually when the contractions really got going I'm sure I reacted like anyone else but the early bit all twenty mins of it was deffo more chilled because of it.

rp you had an incredibly speedy birth though - so your early 20 minutes is probably hours for other labours! And I think the last hour and pushing is tough for most people. I am hoping hypnobirthing will help me stay at home longer and not panic too much but I am not excluding the possibility of drugs as required, just want to feel like I've given myself a chance, which I otherwise would not have felt brave enough to do.

No, Pearl, no, I really cannot remember what it is like to be normal and not hyper vigilant!

Thank you all so much for your kind words and reassurance. It really helps. For some reason I actually believe it's all normal when a Berry says that it is. If anyone else says it then all I hear is blah, blah, blah...

I used the hypnobirth lady Maggie Howell's hypno tapes for IVF treatment - iyswim. I'm sure they helped me be pretty relaxed through all the examinations and procedures. I'd say that actually giving birth is a whole new level though!

Wild good luck today, let us know how you get on as we all know what it's like at your stage.
Bushy can't believe you're nearly at due date!! Exciting times. Hope you're not kept waiting too long! Sensible to put some nice plans in place to see it through. I'm still waiting for nesting bug to come...DH seems to have had it big time which is useful! He was talking about cleaning the tops of the kitchen cupboards the other day!
Pearl I think you are that super organised person I aspire to be!
I think I need to dig my head out of the sand...! I've been so busy taking 1 day at a time that I can't believe at 36 wks now. No birth plan, although at least have made some progress with potentially HB option. We have a few clothes for baby but not much. No hospital bag packed. No baby names chosen. All baby stuff is in loft and can't remember what we've bought! I think a wknd of getting my act in gear is called for!
Off for scan later this morning as MW yesterday wasn't certain whether baby's bum or head was down. Although heart beat is still in the right place so I think she's being a bit OTT. The pregnancy has gone so smoothly that I'm a bit annoyed at her because we haven't had to have any special measures throughout so I daftly felt upset about it. But knowing whether it's breech is important and it'll be nice to see baby Pixie again. It's been a long time since 20wk scan!
Rp- Great msg, nice perspective
Nearly the weekend everyone! Hope you have lovely plans.

All fine. And it's twins. Both measuring more or less at 7 week mark - so spot on. We are amazed.

WOWOWOWOW!!! Massive congratulations Wild best news ever and so exciting to have another set of twins to go along with the little Jellie babies. Absolutely delighted to for you.

Congratulations Wild, that's great news! Your test line did look very strong, I compared it with mine.
Good luck to everybody coming up to D day and enjoy your mat leave. It is a shame you can't bank sleep in advance but make the most of leaving the house with just keys, phone and purse.
Bushy for nursing tops I've lived in a couple of maternity/nursing tops that I got on sale in Mamas and Papas, I found that their sizing is quite generous. Otherwise, I've just done the vest top under another top thing.
A is now nearly 3 months old but only 4.5kg so I'm on mission weight gain, especially after someone asked yesterday if she'd been born premature . She is EBF and demand fed, latch seems OK, pooing and weeing so no major concerns but today I'm going to try expressing after each feed when she thinks she has finished and top her up with a syringe. I did it earlier and she took the extra 2oz quite happily so hopefully it will make a difference.
We should have another berry meet up with all these babies at some point, there was one in Dec 2013 for TTCing thread and I think some of the older grads have met up before.

Oh and on the hypnobirthing, I do think the relaxation tracks and breathing helped me stay at home with back to back labour for 2 days, they didn't believe I was in labour when I went in. I didn't get on with the birth affirmations though, I think I've seen too much to believe them. I found Juju Sundin's Birth Skills book more useful and luckily I had an excellent epidural for the last few hours and didn't feel a thing for the actual delivery.

Wild such brilliant news! Super mega pleased for you!! X

Wild what lovely lovely news! I am so happy for you. Right now as I type Dodo is attempting to suck on my arm.....in 32 weeks' time you will have two of these little monsters!!! What a wonderful result.

Now just put your feet up and take care of yourself.....

WILD - HOORAY! Another Twin mummy! If you need to know anything just yell! Also I had spotting from about OTD to week 9/10. freaked me out EVERY time but the berries kept me sane (well as sane as possible) apparently up to 70% of IVF pregnancies have some bleeding. So you really would be in the minority if you didn't.

Busy - GULP nearly d-day (or Bday!) enjoy your last few days with a bump! Fingers crossed for a sneeze birth X

Pearl - eeep only Monday and Tuesday now for you at work! Are you doing anything nice on your last day? One of my friends is already organising a "leaving lunch" for me and my colleague!

Pixie - Norty girlie! Get that bag packed at least! You don't want to be giving DH instructions on pants, nipple cream and it will all end in "no not that one the other one!" and stress! I've been told its good practice to have your bag packed from 28 weeks with twins! EEEP - I don't even have a bag! if you could send your DH to my house.... It would be lovely don,t think the tops of my ktchen has been looked at since we moved in! I may cave and get a cleaner in at the end to do a deep clean (cheating I know! but prolly worth it!)

RP - 20 minutes (((FAINTS))) do we have a land speed berry award???

Lady - that 3 months has gone quickly!!! Blimey! I wouldn't over worry, she'll catch up in the end. If she seems happy then she is!

Hynobirthing - everyone at YOGA is well into it.... Not sure its going to be for the birth for me, but if I go into labour I think it will be useful for staying calm... yes Perhaps I will have to look into it... Would you guys recommend actual classes or are you using apps or cds???

We had our first growth scan today! Both babies measuring absolutely perfectly on the 50th centile. Can't really ask for more than that. The sonographer was amused by (norty) twin a. (Yes the same one that wouldn't behave for both the anomaly scans). She was trying to measure the cord flow and the baby moved it! Anyway absolutely definite they are girls now - nothing resembling boy bits at all and she got a good view today.

Going to start on the nursery tomorrow! EEEEK cant wait

Have a great weekend lovely Berries

Oh my goodness so chuffed at your news wild!! I actually shrieked 'it's twins!' Then welled up!!! Yay, so happy for you and now we have 2 sets wow wee!! How are you feeling?

Yay to girl jellie twins!! And lovely to start on nursery.

pixie I wouldn't worry too much. I hadn't done a lot of things either. I would say number 1 is to do your hospital bag. I only did mine at 37 weeks. I had a v good list from antenatal classes that I could put on if you'd like. It's a good idea to do a you bag & a baby bag & hubby to do his own with tech & snacks. See if you can get dh to get up in loft & get down the baby bits so you know what you have & still need. A list comes in useful. When are you starting maternity leave? I found the time was so beneficial for sorting & gettng ready. I only wrote my birth plan this week!! I am birth unit & put down who birth partner is, pain relief I'd like, the fact I'm open minded about it, about delayed cord cutting, skin to skin contact, breast feeding, active birth, calm environment & that the injection to deliver placenta was ok as is vitamin k for baby.

So I had back ache yesterday & got up in night for wee & had pain in tummy & back ache, went back to sleep & that's gone. Dh has told baby to stay in til Tuesday as he has lots of work!! D day is Monday and hopefully meeting with similar pg friend to have a walk & some lunch!

I haven't listened to any hypno birthing stuff. Is there anything I can download/ listen to quickly that would help? I've downloaded some music & have classic fm's 50 bedtime classics. Thinking they'll be nice for baba afterward too. Do need to sync to I pod tho!

Lol bushy @ Mr Bushy telling baby to stay in! Hope that's not jinxed it! ????. Sounds like you're ready for the off though! Eeeeeep. Enjoy these last few days x

Lady don't worry too much! What centile is A on? Dodo is 2nd so very dinky - 12 lbs 1 oz at 5 mos - but she is perfectly healthy and developing normally so I'm thinking she'll just put weight on as and when. We started her on one bottle of formula at bedtime last week and I swear she has put on weight since. If you are really concerned could you move to combination feeding?

Bushy delayed cord clamping is ace! I had about 30ish minutes with the cord still attached. It was a very cool feeling. Did you know umbilical cords are sky blue? At least, mine was, a really vivid baby blue!

Wild how are you feeling? Has it sunk in yet?

Bushy try the tracks on here www.eburypublishing.co.uk/lp/mindful-hypnobirthing There are also tracks on iTunes etc, I think Maggie Howell is a popular one.
RP thanks, A is 9th centile now, she started at 50th. HVs just want to keep monitoring it. She is otherwise OK so I'm not too worried, it just gets to you when people keep commenting! I think she just burns more calories due to not sleeping much. I used formula at night for a few weeks at the beginning when she dropped 10% so I'm not averse to it if necessary but she's not keen on bottles these days, hence the syringe!

Wow, just caught up on all the news - so much has been going on!

Wild - amazing news! So chuffed for you both. That first scan when you see the heartbeats is just incredible. I found that the weeks dragged a bit to about 10 weeks then seemed to go a bit quicker. I didn't have too much in the way of symptoms - needed to eat regularly or I'd feel sick, was super tired, boobs went out of control for a few weeks and some low level cramping from time to time.

Bushy - can't believe you're due tomorrow! Exciting. Hope all the waiting doesn't drive you insane.

Pixie - think it's probably time you got yourself sorted! Will probably reduce stress levels if you get yourself organised although sure I'll be the same myself when it comes to it. There is not a cat in Hell's chance that my DH would ever consider cleaning the top of the kitchen cupboards. They haven't been touched since we moved in

Pearl - almost on maternity leave, yay! How long have you got before EDD? When did you start with the hyponobirthing?

RP - lovely post earlier. Are you returning to work soon?

Jellie - great news on the Jelliebabies. Will be good to have some company with the Wildbabies. Do you live very close to each other?

Lady - glad all is going well with you, saw a picture on FB and Ananya (sp?) looks beautiful and healthy. Sounds like a good plan with the feeding.

How are you getting on HB? How long until the next scan?

All fine with me (16 weeks). Still quite tired though. When did people start doing yoga? Think I want to give that a go. Did a very slow 5 km run yesterday (around 40 mins). Was pretty much last in a field of 387. Had a stretchy Lycra top on and hoped people could see a bump and not just flab!